I.Call to Order

The regular meeting of the Operating Staff Council
was called to order at 8:35a.m. on Thursday, September 8, 2005, by Vice
President Rachel Turner.President
Donna Smith was attending the University Benefits Committee meeting.

II.Approval of Agenda

A motion was made to accept the agenda with one
addition.The Resolution about Break
Usage was moved to the Benefits Committee report.The motion was seconded and passed.

III.Approval
of Minutes of August 4, 2005, Meeting

A motion was made to accept the
minutes with a few clarifications. The motion was seconded and passed.

IV.Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was presented for
discussion.A motion was made to accept
the treasurer’s report.The motion was
seconded and passed.Elizabeth Buck
(treasurer) pointed out that the cost of coffee and donuts for our meetings has
risen sharply from approx. $70 to almost $100 per month.She asked the Council if we should consider
reducing the refreshment order.Theresa
Kinniry suggested that the Council not have coffee and donuts at all.Nancy Schuneman also said the refreshments
should be stopped.After some
discussion, a motion was made to reduce the order to include only regular
coffee, ˝ dozen donuts and a dozen mini-muffins.This should cut the cost in half.The motion was seconded and passed, with one
against.

V.Announcements/Correspondence

A.Turner
passed around the bound notes/agenda from the University Council meeting since

Smith was not at the
meeting.

B.Marcia
Dick passed around flyers about a show at the Nehring Gallery and also
information about Lego camps being held through LA&S External Programs.

C.Kinniry
passed around copies of two letters received by one of the food service
personnel from Sen. Barack Obama regarding the Social Security Windfall/Offset
program.The food service employee had
written Sen. Obama with her concerns and she was impressed to get not only one,
but two letters from him.

VI.Committee Reports

A.Personnel/Staff
Developments/Benefits

Clayton presented the Council with a written
proposal for the fitness release program.The proposal is similar to the University Benefits fitness proposal and
would allow employees to take additional time from work to participate in a
fitness program.

B.Elections
and Appointments.

Turner announced that the annual photo for the
Council has been scheduled for October 13 at 8:15 a.m., just before the regular
meeting.All Council members are
required to be there.The photo will be
taken in the Alumni Court,
which is the fountain area of the HolmesStudentCenter.In case of rain, the photo will be taken
inside on the stairs near the north entrance to the HolmesStudentCenter.

C.Public Relations

Committee chair Jay Monteiro was not present, but
Linda Jennings reported that

there is one application for the Dependent
Award.We will continue to promote

the award in the hopes that more people will apply.

D.Visiting Committees – None.

E.EAC –

Clayton reported that EAC
did not meet, but the Merit Board met August 17 in Chicago.Clayton said that the newest Board of Trustees member (Mark Strauss) is
very interested in what is going on at the Systems Office and he was asking
questions of Tom Morelock at the meeting.Strauss also told Clayton that if she ever wanted to discuss anything
with him to let him know.Clayton also
reported that there were no discharge hearings.

F.UAC – Turner sent around the
meeting minutes, but Smith was not available to give a full

Report.

G.University Council – No Report.

H.Special Events –

LaRonda Thuestad reported
that there were 1534 meals served at $8.50 each.She said there was $114 in AV charges, which
the Council felt was very reasonable because they did a nice job running the
three screens.Thuestad suggested that
next year there should be colored tickets available for those who arrive
without tickets.That way, it will be
easier to get a more accurate count.Thuestad also reported that there are only 15 hats and one visor left in
our supply.More will have to be ordered
for the many people who help to serve.Kinniry said that maybe the Council should recognize the catering staff
for all of their hard work.It was
decided that the Council will try to get a list of names of those who worked
that day and send “Thank You” cards to them.

VII.Old Business –

A.MeetingAttendance

Joe Koch was going to double check the bylaws
regarding the policy about meeting attendance.Since Koch was not at the meeting, the Council voted to table the
discussion until the next meeting.

B.CouncilofCouncils

Turner passed around a sign-up
sheet for the Council of Councils meeting on October 7 at ESU.Turner asked Council members to indicate
whether they want to travel the night before and stay overnight or whether they
want to leave the morning of the event.Buck said there is some money available in the Support Account to get 2
hotel rooms if people wanted to stay overnight.The deadline for hotel reservations is September 21 and the deadline for
registering for the Council of Councils meeting is September 30.

VIII.New Business –

A.Turner passed around the FY 06 Holiday
Schedule.The Council has been asked by
Steve Cunningham to review it and make any recommendations.

B.Turner said there are new revisions to
the discharge process.The process
itself has not changed, but the procedure is easier to understand.Turner referred the matter to the Benefits
Committee for further study.

IX.Other Discussion –

A.MailDistribution

There was some discussion about the fact
that some Operating Staff are having difficulty receiving their mail.Tim Griffin suggested that the Council might
want to look into this problem because all employees should be receiving their
mail.The problem seems to be especially
prevalent in the Building Services area.Thuestad said that in the Building Services department, supervisors
collect bulk mail and distribute the information to employees, but because of
the constant reassigning of personnel to different buildings/ areas on campus,
it is difficult to always know where to send the mail.As a result, not everyone gets the same thing
at the same time.Gay Campbell suggested
the Council send a letter to Ruth Murphy, the business manager for the
custodial staff, with a courtesy copy to Bob Albanese, seeking clarification on
the mail distribution practices.

B.Ride-ShareProgram

Dick said that in light of the high gas
prices, there may be some interest in establishing a Ride-Share Program. Dick
suggested that perhaps there could be some sort of electronic bulletin board
where interested parties could leave a message stating they are either looking
for a ride, or could provide a ride to others.Interested parties could then contact one another directly to work out
the details.Schuneman asked if there
might be expanded bus service to Sycamore, but Turner said it is unlikely since
they have tended to shorten their routes in recent years.